DOT proposes stricter oil train safety rules

The Obama administration called Wednesday for a “new world order” in how the U.S. regulates the trains that carry crude oil across the country, addressing a series of fiery derailments that have inspired fears about the dark side of the North American energy boom.

The proposed rules include mandates for phasing out older, less-sturdy rail tank cars during the next two to five years, tightened speed limits, improved brakes, permanent requirements for railroads to share data with state emergency managers and steps to address concerns that crude oil produced in North Dakota’s Bakken region is unusually prone to ignite. The rules also include provisions affecting ethanol, another flammable liquid frequently shipped by rail.

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The proposal doesn’t include some steps that safety advocates have called for, such as a requirement that oil producers remove the most volatile gases from their crude before shipping it. But the Department of Transportation said it was open to making changes in the rule before it becomes final.

“We need a new world order on how this stuff moves,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters in making the announcement, which his department issued roughly two weeks after the first anniversary of a horrific derailment and explosion that killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.

“More crude oil is being shipped by rail than ever before,” Foxx said. “If America is going to be a world leader in producing energy, our job at this department is to ensure that we’re also a world leader in safely transporting it.”

He declined to say when the rule will become final, though it’s clear that lawmakers expect it next year.

Environmentalists repeated their call for an immediate ban on the use of the oldest, most spill-prone tank cars. “The public demands that the federal government crack down on automakers where there is a serious safety risk,” said Patti Goldman, an attorney for the group Earthjustice, which filed a petition with Foxx last week on behalf of clients including the Sierra Club. “We should do the same for the oil industry.”

Wednesday’s rollout followed months of interim steps and voluntary agreements with the railroad and energy industries, and came unusually quickly considering that DOT submitted it to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review in late April. It also followed a yearlong series of oil train crashes in communities from Quebec and North Dakota to western Pennsylvania, rural Alabama and Lynchburg, Virginia.

So far in 2014, incidents involving oil trains have shattered records for property damage, based on POLITICO’s review of federal data, with a toll exceeding $10 million as of late May — nearly triple the damage for all of 2013.

The details of the proposal had been the subject of fierce lobbying by the oil industry, which maintains that Bakken crude doesn’t pose unusual dangers, and by the railroads, which have long called for tougher tank-car standards but objected to suggestions for reduced speed limits. DOT’s draft includes something for practically all sides to dislike but also offers incentives for the industries to go along. For instance, oil trains meeting toughened standards for crash worthiness and brakes could travel as fast as 50 mph in all areas, while those that don’t could be limited to 30 mph or 40 mph.

Groups representing the railroad and oil industries said they would review the proposal.

“The fact that the proposed rule incorporates several of the voluntary operating practices we have already implemented demonstrates the railroad industry’s ongoing commitment to rail safety,” Ed Hamberger, CEO of the Association of American Railroads, said in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to providing data-driven analyses of the impacts various provisions of the proposal will have on both freight customers and passenger railroads that ship millions of tons of goods and serve millions of commuters and travelers across the nationwide rail network every day.”

On the other hand, the American Petroleum Institute blasted out a statement rejecting “speculation by the Department of Transportation” about the safety of transporting Bakken crude.

“Multiple studies have shown that Bakken crude is similar to other crudes,” API CEO Jack Gerard said. “DOT needs to get this right and make sure that its regulations are grounded in facts and sound science, not speculation.”

But Foxx released new data based Wednesday on the department’s tests of Bakken oil, which the department says has a “higher gas content, higher vapor pressure, lower flash point and boiling point and thus a higher degree of volatility than most other crudes in the U.S., which correlates to increased ignitability and flammability.” However, the testing also showed that the hazard classification applied to Bakken crude is “accurate under the current classification system,” a point the energy industry has made to support its stance.

“This is an ongoing effort, but what we’ve confirmed so far is that Bakken crude oil is on the high end of volatility compared to other crude oils,” Foxx said. “And not only is it on the high end of volatility, its production is skyrocketing.”

Meanwhile, a group representing the ethanol industry objected to having its fuel lumped into the oil trains restrictions. “Ethanol is a low volatility, consistent commercial product with a 99.997 percent rail safety record,” said Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.

The DOT proposal drew initial praise from lawmakers, along with calls to go further.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), whose home state has been embroiled in controversy about oil train safety, urged Foxx’s department to expand its requirements for railroads to notify state emergency managers about the shipments moving through their communities, which now apply only to Bakken oil.

Railroads have objected to spreading information about the shipments too widely, arguing that it would pose a security risk. But leaders of some communities have said they had no idea oil was rolling through their streets until after an accident happened — including Lynchburg Mayor Michael Gillette, whose city was the site of an April 30 derailment and explosion that spilled crude into the James River.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged DOT to see that the rules are “finalized, implemented and enforced as soon as possible.”

“These desperately needed safety regulations will phase out the aged and explosion-prone … tanker cars that are hauling endless streams of highly flammable crude oil through communities across the country and New York,” Schumer said in a statement Wednesday.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said the proposal “appears to be comprehensive,” adding that “we will continue to review these proposed standards to ensure they are workable and will keep our communities safe.”